


The Mirror of Erised

by SunshineScorpius



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child - Thorne & Rowling
Genre: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, M/M, Scorbus, albus and scorpius - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-10
Updated: 2018-12-10
Packaged: 2019-09-15 09:38:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,167
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16930842
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SunshineScorpius/pseuds/SunshineScorpius
Summary: Scorpius - aching for a new adventure - drags Albus to find the Mirror of Erised, hidden within the Room of Requirement. But what the mirror reveals is something they never expected, and a new romance starts to blossom.





	The Mirror of Erised

“Albus! Albus!” Albus stirred awake at the sound of his best friend Scorpius shouting his name. Realistically, Albus shouldn’t have been sleeping, but he and Scorpius was awake late last night revising for an irrelevant in-class test he was freaking over about even though Albus couldn’t have cared less. He just wanted to help his friend. However, it meant he and Scorpius only got a few hours’ sleep before having to wake for breakfast and their DADA class. Albus would have missed breakfast if it weren’t for Scorpius dragging him out of bed, rambling about how he needed his vitamins, most important meal of the day of course. As soon as lunch rolled around and Albus had eaten enough to satisfy Scorpius, he mumbled about a nap and slumped his way up the dorm room, leaving Scorpius’ head in a book in the Great Hall.

“Albus!” He screamed again, running into the dorm they shared and jumping on his bed. “Are you awake?” He asked. Stupid question, Albus thought.

“No,” Albus said bluntly, but knew Scorpius would know he didn’t mean anything by it. 

“Oh, you’re so silly. Albus, I have found our next Hogwarts adventure!” Albus groaned, remembering their previous adventure did not go too well. Albus looked up at his best friend towering over him, his grey eyes glistening with joy and wonderment, a big bright smile plastered on his face that reached his eyes. The way Scorpius looked at Albus made his heart skip a beat. “I promise no time travel, no danger or anything, we’ll be completely safe.”

Despite how broken Scorpius was when he came back from their time travel antics, he wore his trauma well. He never let it show, his only moments of weakness were in the middle of the night when he thought no one could hear his muffled sobs and silent pleads for Albus. Albus wanted nothing more than for Scorpius’ nightmares to disappear, to be able to provide him with enough comfort to make him forget his life in the other worlds, to assure him that Albus would always be there for him and would never leave him. But, Albus feared he would never be able to provide that for Scorpius, so mostly lay hopeless listening to Scorpius’ sobs, full of a feeling of hopelessness and a resentment towards anyone who hurt him. 

“I’d go anywhere with you, Scorp,” Albus spoke, quickly biting his tongue to stop him from saying anything else, which could be potentially detrimental to their friendship. However, Scorpius just seemed to slightly melt, the smile on his face somehow widening. 

“Awh, Albus. That’s so nice. I’d go anywhere with you too,” Scorpius said, making sure Albus felt just as important and special as he made Scorpius feel. “But, I’ve been thinking about the Mirror of Erised.” Albus had heard all about the mirror from his father, what it does, what it shows, about how the happiest wizard in the world will look into and see nothing but himself. Scorpius must have been reading up on it - not that he hadn’t read every book already in existence about the Mirror of Erised - to be suddenly so fascinated in it. “It’s hidden somewhere in the castle, let’s go find it! Aren’t you just totally curious as to what it will show, what is your hearts biggest desire, what you want most in the world. You know the word Erised is Desire spelt backwards,” Albus just listened as Scorpius rambled on about random facts about the mirror, it’s history and how it ended up in Hogwarts. His voice was so soothing it could put Albus to sleep, but this time he had no desire to sleep, only to listen to Scorpius all day long. Albus’ heart skipped a beat every now and then watching the way Scorpius’ eyes lit up when he talked about something he was passionate about, which for Scorpius was basically anything with a bit of history attached to it. 

“Fine, I’ll go with you.”

“You will! That’s amazing, we’ll start searching after dinner. We know Dumbledore kept it in the room of requirement, so put your walking boots on Albus, we’re going to the seventh floor,” Albus laughed at Scorpius' enthusiasm and hyperactivity, it was like that boy didn’t know how to sit still ninety-nine percent of the time. “Anyway, get up, we have herbology.” Scorpius spoke way too excitingly, – he didn’t usually like herbology, it was the one subject he actually struggled with – packing his bag with his textbooks. He basically ended up dragging Albus out the door.

____

After dinner – as promised – Scorpius was dragging Albus up to the seventh floor. It was quite often they’d come up here together, Scorpius dragging Albus to the Astronomy Tower to fuel his fascination. Albus thinks it stems from his name coming from a famous constellation, as well as everyone else’s name in his family. Though Albus didn’t mind, he quite liked looking at the stars with Scorpius. If Scorpius was having a particularly hard day, or a hellish night, they would come up here for some peace and quiet. Scorpius never spoke to Albus about his dreams, and Albus never brought it up figuring he’d tell him when he was ready. Albus did know, however, that if anything could calm him it would be the constellations.

“So, the room of requirement only shows up when a student needs it, how are you planning on getting in there?” Albus asked, walking fast to keep up with Scorpius’ long strides. His hair had fallen sloppy due to a potion mishap before dinner which he failed to fix, the potion thing was admittingly Albus’ fault. His blond locks now fell into his face, it had been so long since he last cut it that it was starting to block his eyes, but Albus thought he looked even more endearing. Not that he’d ever tell Scorpius that. He had accepted his best friends crush on his cousin and learned to deal with how he felt about Scorpius and that he would never feel it back. Then again, he hadn’t seen him speak to Rose in weeks and hasn’t asked her out since fifth year began two months ago. Albus shook off the thought, still knowing Scorpius wouldn’t be into him even if he tried, so he settled as his friend. At least that way he’d still have Scorpius in his life.

“Albus, are you even listening?” Scorpius broke his trail of thought. Albus was so lost in his own head he wasn’t even listening to the answer to the question Albus just asked him.

“What’s going on in that brain of yours?” Scorpius stopped in his tracks, turning to face Albus, suspicion on his face. “Is something bothering you?” Damn, he sometimes hated how inquisitive Scorpius could be, then realised he didn’t hate anything about Scorpius. He couldn’t.

“No, nothing, I promise. I was just thinking about what the mirror could show,” again, a smile erupted on Scorpius’ face, one that lit up his eyes and made him even more beautiful than usual. Scorpius carried on walking again. They’d decided to eat dinner as fast as possible, getting up the seventh floor before the Gryffindors and Ravenclaws returned to their dorms for the evening so they wouldn’t get caught by anyone. Avoiding people is what they did best. 

“Professor Longbottom says it’s here, near the hall of Hexes,” Albus was about to question when exactly Scorpius spoke to his godfather about the Room of Requirement, but was stopped by Scorpius' strange behaviour, who started pacing back and forth by an empty wall, his face scrunched up as though he was thinking about something really hard. Albus watched in amusement, leaving Scorpius to it. He’d ask him about Neville later.

It was – ironically – like magic when Albus saw from the bottom of the empty wall and door appear. It was only small, but slowly grew larger and larger. 

“Scorpius,” Scorpius waved off Albus’ name-calling. “Scorpius, I think you did it,” Albus said, grabbing Scorpius’ shoulders and facing him towards the growing door. In disbelief, Scorpius stepped back onto Albus’ foot, causing him to scream out in pain. “Ouch!”

“Albus, I’m so sorry, I’m so, so sorry,” Scorpius grabbed Albus’ hand when he turned to face him, asking him if he was alright over and over. Of course, Albus was fine, Scorpius was mostly skin and bone and did not weight that much, he barely caused any pain at all. 

“Scorp, it’s fine, just you did it, look!” Albus again pointed at the now fully-grown door standing in front of them. Scorpius looked up in disbelief, Albus could practically see the cogs turning in his brain trying to take it all in. Without letting go of Scorpius’ hand – he wondered if he noticed he’d even grabbed it – Albus led Scorpius into the Room of Requirement.

___ 

Inside, the room was actually pretty underwhelming. Scorpius had heard many stories of the possibilities that lay behind the door to the room of requirement. He knew it gave the witch or wizard who sought it what it needed the most. He knew it was used as a training ground for Dumbledore’s Army back when his and Albus’ parents were in school, discovered by Neville Longbottom, hence how Scorpius got him talking about how to find the Room of Requirement. His own father had told him about how it had burned down in what would have been his seventh year at Hogwarts, however this was the Room of Requirement, and was rebuilt along with most parts of the castle following the Battle of Hogwarts. 

There was nothing in the room, it was bare on its walls, little light coming in from the windows that cast an overshadow more than anything. There were a couple of beams holding the room in place, but there was nothing except the Mirror of Erised, just as Scorpius had asked for. 

“Albus, it’s here!” He said, excitedly, letting go on Albus’ hand – he was previously all too aware he was holding it, but Albus never pulled away and therefore neither did Scorpius – and running over to the centre of the room when the mirror stood in all its glory. Scorpius could hardly believe it was real, standing significantly taller than both him and Albus put together. It was exactly how he imagined, slightly dusty, the scripture carved into the gold frame, and absolutely giant. It was beautiful. Scorpius thought his heart might just explode. “We found it,” he spoke, more of a whisper. “You look first,” he said to Albus.

“Why? Suddenly you don’t want to know? Scared, Malfoy?” Albus playfully joked, shoving Scorpius slightly with his shoulder. 

“Yes,” he admitted, it wasn’t the answer Albus expected, Scorpius knew that. “I just don’t know what it will show, that’s all.” Albus said nothing more, and stepped into the frame of the Mirror of Erised.

It was quiet for a moment. There was slight buzzing in the room, and Scorpius weren’t sure if it was coming from something else in there or the mirror, either way it gave him the creeps. It was cold too, and it’s not like there was a fire to warm them up. Scorpius shivered, wrapping his arms around himself, the room was so much creepier when there was no sound. Scorpius tried but couldn’t quite read the expression of Albus’ face, it was sort of like longing, but also confusion and disbelief. Scorpius was almost scared to ask what Albus had seen, but he did anyway. 

“It’s just me and my dad, being happy,” Albus said, shaking his head. There was something in his tone, however, that made Scorpius believe that he had simply made it up on the spot when asked. Though he didn’t know why Albus would lie about what the mirror showed, after all your heart’s desire should be a good thing to witness. Albus stepped out of the mirror’s frame and patted Scorpius on the shoulder. “Your turn, Scorp.”

Scorpius had no idea what the mirror might show in that moment. He was scared it might be his mum, and the mirror will do to him what it has done to many others in the past and drive him mad, by showing him something so far out of his reach. Scorpius did not, however, expect what did show up in the mirror when he stepped in front of it. It was not his mother, or his father, or of anyone in his family. It was of him and Albus, smiling and holding hands and sharing a kiss every now and again. Scorpius squinted at it, surely that’s not what he was seeing. Him and Albus? A couple? As in like in a relationship? 

Scorpius caught a quick glance of Albus out the corner of his eye. He wondered if he knew what Scorpius was seeing, if it was written all over his face. It was true that Scorpius’ feelings had changed about Albus’ since the return of the other dark alternate universe, but Scorpius was always so confused about them. His heart would skip and beat whenever he and Albus hugged, or touched, and he knew that was different than before. But, Albus was Scorpius’ best friend, and even he wasn’t romantically incompetent enough to mess up the friendship they have because of feelings that definitely weren’t reciprocated.

“So, what do you see?” Scorpius glanced back at the mirror, he watched as his mirror-self pulled Albus into a sweet and endearing kiss, wishing with every ounce of his being that it could be real. He looked again back at Albus, whose face was lit up with curiosity, and found in his heart that he couldn’t lie to him. He had never lied to him before, he had to admit it. And hope it wouldn’t ruin their friendship forever. Scorpius could not live without him. There were so many kind things about Albus, so many things he had done for Scorpius, like keeping his bed curtains open slightly just so Scorpius can see him and know he’s there if he ever has a bad dream, or sit with him for hours in the Astronomy Tower even though he had no desire to be there, just so Scorpius would feel better. 

“You,” Scorpius didn’t look at Albus’ face when he said it. Instead he looked at mirror-Albus, smiling so hard his entire face lit up, and he imaged that was the real Albus’ reaction. 

“Me?” The closeness of Albus’ breath made Scorpius jump, he hadn’t realised how close Albus had come to him. Scorpius didn’t say anything, couldn’t say anything. He was so scared that Albus would run away, would shun him, call him names, tell him that he was wrong for seeing him, for desiring him. Except he didn’t. Albus didn’t say anything at first. Then, he took Scorpius' hand and faced the mirror. Scorpius could see the two of them behind their mirror versions. They would nearly have looked identical if either of them was smiling. “I saw you too.” Scorpius’ heart nearly jumped out of his chest.

“You did?”

“Yeah. I was scared to tell you, thought you might find it weird, run and hide,” Scorpius laughed, actually laughed.

“You thought I, Scorpius Malfoy, would find it weird?” This made Albus laugh too, and it that moment they looked just like their mirror-versions of themselves. Scorpius wondered if Albus was seeing the same thing he was. Albus’ shoved him slightly, again, and Scorpius wondered if this was how Albus flirted with him. He did it quite a lot.

“Scorp?” At the sound of his beloved nickname – only Albus called him that – Scorpius turned to look at him. He had become very aware of how close they were standing, not that they hadn’t stood this close before, but now it seemed different, more intimate, and Scorpius wanted him closer. Longed for it. “How long have you known? How long have you wanted this?” Before Scorpius allowed himself to answer the question, he had to know exactly what ‘this’ is, Scorpius had a habit of letting his mind run away with him.

“What is ‘this’?” Albus looked slightly taken aback by the question and Scorpius regretted asking it. “Wait,” he said, before Albus could. “I need to know we’re on the same page. I like you, Albus. Like really like you, and I was so worried you wouldn’t like me back so I just avoided the whole thing and went along with my crush on Rose whenever you asked when in fact I haven’t liked Rose in a very long time and I’m rambling again aren’t I? Ugh, stupid me, why do I have to do that when I get nerv-,” Scorpius was cut off by a pair of lips crashing into his own. He was caught off guard in the beginning, but as he eased into the kiss, it seemed to become easier. It was messy, and sloppy and neither of them really knew what they were doing, but it felt right. Scorpius’ hands found their way to Albus’ waist, whereas Albus’ hands were resting gently on Scorpius’ cheeks. Scorpius’ cheeks became hotter the longer the kiss went on, and found himself having to pull away to catch his breath, hoping he hadn’t offended Albus. 

“Wow,” he spoke, breathless but exhilarated. Neither of them could take their eyes of each other, both totally overwhelmed by the feeling that a kiss – just a kiss – could bring them. Scorpius had read about them in novels, but nothing compared to the actual feeling. He had always imagined that kissing in real life never lived up to the expectations, but that exceeded them. Kissing Albus was incredible. Oh god, he hoped he liked it too.

“Yeah, wow,” he did. “That was not how I expected this adventure to end, but I’m really glad it did.” Scorpius smiled, that damn smile that made Albus weak at the knees. 

“We should go, back to our dorms,” Scorpius spoke, taking Albus’ hand in his. “Is this okay?” He asked, gesturing to the hand-holding.

“More than okay, let’s go.” The two boys were simply astounded, high on the pleasure of each others company and speechless about the events that unfolded. They walked hand-in-hand back to the Slytherin common-room, a long distance from the seventh floor, however they took the long route down all the corridors no one accompanied. They would usually take this route, but both boys suspected they did it this time for the same reasons: for some alone time. 

They were nearing the dungeons and their common-room when Albus stopped, dramatically pulling Scorpius back by his hand, who would have collided with Albus if he hadn’t managed to stop him. 

“What is it?” Scorpius asked, thinking maybe someone had spotted the two boys hand-holding and spooked Albus.

“I’ve just been thinking about this the whole way back,” Albus said, his voice low and endearing, Scorpius nearly collapsed at the sound. He probably would have if Albus weren’t holding him up. Albus backed Scorpius into the wall, and once again, sloppily but with slight more precision, pressed his lips into Scorpius’. Their mouths messily collided, and the kiss deepened with hunger and desire. This time, Scorpius used his hands to comb through Albus’ hair, pulling on it slightly to get him closer to him. They were so close, but Scorpius wanted him closer, if that was even possible. Albus’ hands were on Scorpius’ back. When they pulled away again, Scorpius felt a sense of loss. His lips swollen from the pressure, but tingled for the desire for more. Albus’ lips were the same, and Scorpius ran his thumb across his lips.

They walked back to the common-room, their breathing ragged and robes messy. Scorpius had no idea what happened to Albus’ tie during the make-out, but it was completely undone. Both of the boys’ hair was messy, you could tell fingers had been running through it, and although they tried to fix themselves, they also knew no one in the common-room would even notice them when they entered, and they could go straight to their dorm in peace.

____

 

When they reached their dorm, the two boys got ready for bed, but instead of climbing into separate beds, Albus asked Scorpius if he could stay with him tonight, to which Scorpius willingly agreed. They got into bed and drew the curtains around them. They didn’t cuddle together, not at first anyway. First, they sat crossed legged facing each other. Albus was playing with Scorpius’ hands, drawing circles on them. Their knees were touching, and it was almost like if they stopped touching, the whole world would fall apart. Scorpius felt like that sometimes.

“You never answered my question,” Albus said in a quiet voice as he ran his fingers along Scorpius’ knuckles. Scorpius looked up at him, an inquisitive look on his face. “How long have you known about me?” Scorpius didn’t answer the question before because the answer was shamefully too long. But, now he wanted to tell Albus, he wanted to tell Albus everything. He never wanted either of them to have secret from each other, and so he decided to tell him. 

“Honestly, I think a part of me knew when I saw you the first time when you entered my carriage on the Hogwarts Express, first year.” Albus’ eyes widened. “But, I didn’t truly know until Fourth year. When I was in the other world, and you weren’t there physically, you were still there. I knew that, in my heart somewhere. You got me through that, whether you knew it or not. Living in a world without Albus Potter just isn’t a world I want to live in. So, I think it was then that my true feelings really came to the surface. That’s why I needed to hug you when I got you back. I needed you, and your closeness and warmth and you were there, even after so long of not being there. I could have kissed you then, but I was so scared you’d reject me and I needed you so badly then, I couldn’t bear to lose you again.” For the first time, Scorpius’ rambled speech actually seemed to make sense, and he half thought it was quite romantic. 

Albus took Scorpius’ hand properly this time, squeezing it as if telling him that he is right there. There was a small, sweet smile on Albus’ lips, and Scorpius assumed he appreciated the confession.

“I’m not going anywhere, Scorp. Not again. I need you too, I don’t want to live in a world without you either.” Scorpius smiled a wild grin, one he could not contain. “I think I was the same. I think, like you, a part of me had always known. But there were little things when we were growing up, like – and I’m sorry for bringing this up – but when your mum died,” Scorpius’ head dropped at the thought, living without her never got easier. Albus reached up and lifted Scorpius' chin so he was looking at Albus. “I never wanted you to feel that pain again, I wanted to hold you so tight and never let you go. Then when you jumped off a train for me, and followed me through time, I knew you were a friend to keep, but I wanted so much more than that. Then you saved me, and I knew I didn’t deserve you, so I kept my feelings hidden."

“Albus, you do deserve me. You are the most wonderful person I’ve ever met, even if you’re views on books and nerdy things aren’t quite level with mine. But I suppose I can overlook that,” the sarcastic comment of course fit right in place with the two of them.

“Oh, shut up, Malfoy.” Albus spat, and Scorpius pretended to look dramatically offended. But still he smiled, and stroked Albus’ cheek. He leaned in for a small, sweet and gentle kiss before lying down next to him.

“Harry Potter’s rogue child and Voldemort’s son, what a strange constellation we both are.” That was the first time Scorpius had joked about the rumour on his heritage, he would sometimes join in if Albus was making a joke, those he never took to heart, but he wouldn’t often mention it himself unless being self-deprecating. 

“The oddest pairing,” Albus agreed, and lay next to him, wrapping his arms around his stomach, and pulling him close.

The two fell asleep like that, and that night when Scorpius woke up screaming from a nightmare, Albus was there, holding him, comforting him and reassuring him he was there. That he wasn’t going anywhere. That both he and Scorpius were safe from the Dark Lord and his Dark Universe. And Albus held him and stroked his hair till Scorpius fell back to sleep and made it the rest of the night without a nightmare, comforted by Albus’ arms.


End file.
